Named one of the 100 most influential people on the federal political scene by the Hill Times, L. Ian MacDonald is Editor-in-Chief of Policy Options, Canada's premier public policy magazine published by the Institute for Research on Public Policy, writes regular columns on politics and policy for the Montreal Gazette and the Sun Media Group, and is a frequent commentator for CTV, CPAC and CBC.

Policy Options, June-July 2012

This month, Policy Options ranks the top provincial premiers of the past 40 years. The issue includes an exclusive interview with the winner, Peter Lougheed, as well as an overview of the ranking process and numbers by Jeremy Leonard. Several of the 30 jurors, including Tom Axworthy, Lee Richardson, Hugh Segal, Brian Topp Roger Ouellette and John Parisella (many of whom worked with the winning premiers, write from their personal perspectives.

As part of the Institute for Research on Public Policy's 40th anniversary, 30 eminent historians, political scientists, economists, journalists and policy advisers from across Canada were asked by Policy Options magazine to pick their top five choices for best provincial premier since the Institute's founding. The winner? Peter Lougheed by a landslide.

Discussion of the results on The Agenda with Steve Paikin, May 3, 2012:

On March 24 and 25, 2011, the McGill Institute of the Study of Canada's held its annual conference, which was devoted to a conversations between Canadians and Americans about the fundamental aspects of the Canada - U.S. relationship. Co-chaired by L. Ian Macdonald, it featured exchanges between Brian Mulroney and James A. Baker III, a keynote address by Jim Flaherty and poll results by Nik Nanos, as well as much more.